Rodgers And Hammerstein: South Pacific New cast recording of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s "South Pacific" is flawless and equal among its predecessors.
by Todd B Sollis
It's hardly surprising that Lincoln Center Theater, producers of the current runaway hit revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's immortal South Pacific, decided to crown their triumph with a cast album: the production, directed by Bartlett Sher, has garnered virtually unanimous critical acclaim and played to sold-out audiences since it began previews in March 2008. Audiences have gobbled up this musical-theater mainstay non-stop for nearly sixty years after the original production opened on Broadway in April 1949 - with almost each helping yielding an album: the original South Pacific mono cast recording featured Ezio Pinza and Mary Martin; the soundtrack from the forgettable 1958 film starred Mitzi Gaynor and opera's Giorgio Tozzi (lipsynched on camera by Rossano Brazzi); the 1986 Sony studio "crossover" recording offered the genre-busting cast list of Kiri Te Kanawa, José Carreras, Sarah Vaughan and Mandy Patinkin; Trevor Nunn's 2001 West End revival starred Lauren Kennedy and Phillip Quasi (First Night Records); the 2001 television production soundtrack (Sony) featured Rade Sherbedgia, Harry Connick, Jr., and a miscast Glenn Close; and the refreshing 2005 Carnegie Hall concert version had Reba McEntire and Brian Stokes Mitchell (Decca Broadway). The current album's real production risk: are there any sound reasons for purchasing yet another version of this oft-recorded gem?
Indeed there are. The sonics of this flawlessly engineered disc are without equal among its predecessors. The sound is natural, balanced and full-bodied, with no pushy "glow" around the voice; the timbre of each instrument in the huge (thirty-person) orchestra has been perfectly captured: the disc reproduces the nuances and beauty of the live performance. Moreover, the 1949 Columbia recording - probably the best known South Pacific for most - had to trim some numbers to fit the original releases 78rpm sides. All cuts are restored in the 2008 version, including "My Girl Back Home" (a duet for Nellie and Cable excised from the original Broadway score but used in the 1958 film), yielding a disc with almost twenty minutes more music than the 1949 performance - and you still get Robert Russell Bennett's sublime original orchestrations, conducted here with great style by Ted Sperling.
Ezio Pinza's stentorian, old-school operatics as Emile, whatever his magnetism onstage in 1949, have not aged well on recording: the intelligent, attractive and effective Emile of Brazilian bass-baritone Paolo Szot is more appealing to audiences in 2008. No one is going to erase the memory of ebullient Mary Martin, creator of Nellie Forbush, but Kelli O'Hara's Nellie is admirably sensitive and restrained, especially when coupled with Szot. This pair truly sounds like blossoming lovers.
If forced to choose but one South Pacific to bring to a deserted Bali Ha'i, I confess I'd stick with the gutsy original cast, headed by Martin and Pinza. But I'm not, so I'm happily adding this splendid 2008 revival disc to my collection.
